Russian camp for Ukrainian refugees

MOSCOW, June 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s government plans to allocate 240 million rubles ($7 million) to the southern Rostov region to compensate for its expenses on the accommodations to refugees from Ukraine, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

“We will offer help to the region, as we have promised,” he said. “About 240 million rubles will be transferred to the Rostov region budget to compensate for their expenses, which were unbudgeted.”

“According to reports at 6.00 am Moscow time on Thursday, the number of reported refugees from Ukraine exceeds 18,900 people. They are staying in Southern, Central, North-Western Federal Districts, the city of Sevastopol (the Russian Crimean federal city) and Crimea (the Russian republic),” spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry Alexander Drobyshevsky told ITAR-TASS on Thursday.

Over 10,000 people, more than half of refugees, stay at their relatives and friends. “As many as 8,800 people, including more than 4,500 children, are staying at temporary camps,” the spokesman said.

More than 200 temporary camps for Ukrainian refugees have been set up in Russian regions bordering Ukraine.

Russian children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has drawn the attention of the International Red Cross (ICRC) and UNICEF to the situation in respect to refugees from the southeast of Ukraine.

“The Red Cross ought to have long ago raised its flag there, put up its tents and begin evacuating all those who want to leave,” the ombudsman told journalists in St.Petersburg.

Astakhov said he had contacted the ICRC Kiev office, and ICRC and UNICEF headquarters. “In response to my appeal UNICEF has published a report in which it called on the UN to pay attention to the problem, but that was all that was done,” the ombudsman said.